SET for Sport is an engagement day facilitated by volunteer Engineers, examining engineers impact in the evolution of sport and sporting equipment. The day is designed for Yr7 - Yr 10 students to spark their interest in engineering as an academic subject and a career by highlighting the wide range of areas that engineering affects and that engineers work in.
In setting up SET for Sport and during the pilot phase, Portia collaborated with many organisations, in particular The Institution of Mechanical Engineers (IMechE) and The Hackney Learning Trust. The pilot phase included organising the event at many different venues, engaging engineers and teachers, and responding to the feedback from all participants. We have had a 100% satisfaction Rate from all the schools and volunteers who attended our events. You can see that the pupils find it both informative and very enjoyable. They find that they can easily communicate with the engineers and receive the support they need in a friendly, informal but informative way, gathering insights to engineering and engineering as a career. The SET for Sport experience enables schools to expand their teaching materials to give students a break from everyday school life.
The message promoted by Portia through the SET for Sport initiative is that engineering is a prestigious and a vital profession, with a highly diverse range of application areas, from building a house to making a unique microchip. Throughout the event, volunteer engineers are able to introduce basic career information about the most common engineering professions such as Chemical, Electrical, Electronic, Mechanical and Structural engineering, and contributing institutions are able to provide more detailed career advice in their area of specialisation.
The SET for Sport is an ongoing initiative that continues to be improved and enhanced in the light of past experience and feedback in order to increase the level of educational interest and impact, and improve opportunities for interaction and communication between the professional engineering community and the potential future pools of engineering talent.